Eternal Godhead

THE ETERNAL GODHEAD AND CREATOR

by Bob Allgood

When the Scripture says, “In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth” it is meant the Eternal God, as in the Eternal Godhead, created all things. The Godhead IS the Father, the Word (or Son that was made flesh) and the Holy Spirit, and “these three are ONE” (I John 5:7). Notice it does not say “these three IN one”, but “these three ARE one”. That which is ONE in essence and substance can not be separated. If I put three different peas in a cup I would have “three IN one”. But if I put three equal portions of water into a cup I would have “three ARE one” and they could not be separated because they are of the same essence and substance. So it is with the Godhead, even though ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). For IN Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). As John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”.

It says in 1 John 4:9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him”. God the Father said of this Jesus several times, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17, 17:5). Jesus said of the Father, “I and my Father are ONE” (John 10:30). When Phillip asked to see the Father, Jesus said, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). When Jesus was speaking of The Comforter who is the Spirit of Truth (i.e. the Holy Spirit) he said, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you” (John 14:16-18). The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are one and the same Spirit (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit is eternal. Paul wrote in Hebrews 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

So then the eternal Godhead bears witness in heaven to the Truth. The word Eternal means “Existing without beginning or end; having no beginning and no end; such as the belief in an Eternal God.” Moses said the Children of Israel, The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: --“ (Deut 33:27). Paul proclaimed, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (I Tim. 1:17).

Eternal Life, which is given to as many as the eternal Father gave to the eternal Son (John 17:1-5), which Life is IN the Son (John 5:39, I John 5:11-12), is not the specific subject under consideration. Mankind, the creation of God, is eternal only to the extent that [1] those chosen in Christ by the Father before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3-6) were promised Eternal Life in Christ (Titus 1:2) and [2] those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:15) will go away into “everlasting” (or eternal) fire or punishment prepared for the devil and his angels (see Matt. 25:41, 46). The same Greek word “aionios” is translated “eternal” 45 times and “everlasting” 25 times in the New Testament. Therefore, Everlasting often means Eternal.

It is vain to ask the foolish question “What IF Adam had not sinned, would he have lived forever?” The fact is Adam sinned and Adam died. That is dying he began to die (Gen. 2:17), and the condemnation of sin and death passed upon the whole human race because of his sin (Romans 5:12, 17-21). Furthermore, it flies in the face of revealed truth to ask, “What IF Adam had not sinned”. God foreknew that Adam would sin. God’s word tells us clearly that Christ “was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:20). There can be only one reason Christ was foreordained to die for our sins, and that is because God foreknew that Adam would sin. The word of God clearly tells us that God chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the world. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” There is only one reason “The Elect” were foreknown and chosen in Christ, and that is because God foreknew that Adam would sin.

The word of God clearly tells us that eternal life was promised to God’s elect before the world began. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; --“ (Titus 1:2). There is only one reason that eternal life was promised by God to a chosen people, and that is because God foreknew Adam would sin. The word of God clearly tells us that a kingdom was prepared for God’s elect from the foundation of the world. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: --” (Matthew 25:34). There is only one reason that a kingdom was prepared for God’s elect and not for others, and that is because God foreknew that Adam would sin. God did not cause Adam to sin, but what VAIN man will say that God was wrong in his foreknowledge and that Adam did not have to sin? God forbid! Let God be true and all men liars.

Temporal things are seen naturally. Eternal things are seen spiritually.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). My dear wife and I have been blessed to travel much of this country, and especially out West, and have enjoyed the temporal beauty of the “creative work of God”. David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy work” (Psalms 19:1). But while we have enjoyed the temporal beauty of creation, we ought never to forget, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (I Cor. 2:9-10). God is a Spirit. God is invisible. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

One can only believe from the heart of faith in the Eternal God and Creator, when God Himself has caused that one to be born of His Spirit and given him the gift of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:1,3, 6) One to whom God has given the gift of Faith can not help but understand that only an Eternal God created the heavens and the earth, and this understanding should cause us to have reverence for our creator God.

The Gentiles who lived 1656 years before the flood, “knew God” or about God, but “they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations (Cf Gen. 6:5), and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”. Why Paul? How could this be?, some would ask. The answer comes, “For the invisible things of him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:-- (Romans 1:20). That which may be known of God has been manifest unto mankind; “For God hath showed it unto them”. The invisible things of God from the creation of the world, even the eternal power of God and the Godhead – can be clearly seen and understood by the things that are made, so that the man who has faith has no excuse for not believing there is an eternal God. Some will say, “I believe there is a higher power”. So what? “The devil believes there is one God and trembles” (James 2:19).

The Eternal Godhead is the Creator of all things.

The book of Genesis records the creation of “the heaven and the earth” which man enjoys in a natural way. I believe the six (6) “days of creation” were normal twenty four (24) hour days, and on the seventh day, God who needs no rest, rested. According to the “Wonders of Bible Chronology” we know that the Earth which God created is less than 6,000 years old. But we know that God is eternal and 1,000 years is as but one day with Him. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. “This is the Day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”. With that in mind, this is a beautiful Day. Not only did the Lord make this Day but God is the ETERNAL creator of ALL things. God has NO beginning.

God (the Godhead) WAS “In the beginning” when “God created the heaven and the earth”. In the beginning the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. “In the beginning WAS the WORD (of God) and the Word WAS with God, and the Word WAS God. The same was in the beginning with God. ALL things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The Greek word WAS in John 1:1 is “ito” meaning “exist”, not existed as in a past tense and is no more, but “exist” as in an eternal, continual and perpetual existence. Our eternal God IS the first and the last, the beginning and the end. We know that God “exist” before Genesis 1:1. We also know that God created ALL things by Jesus Christ, who being the Eternal Word WAS (ito = exist) in the beginning with God.

This great truth is confirmed in many passages, of which I will give several. First in John 1:1-3 as quoted above. But here we need to quickly add John 1:14 which reads, “And the WORD (Christ) was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld HIS glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Second, in Colossians 1:12-17 we read, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom (his dear Son) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who (his dear Son) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him (Christ) were ALL things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: ALL things were created by him (Christ), and for him (Christ): And he (Christ) is before ALL things, and by him ALL things consist.”

Third, consider Philippians 2:5-6 which reads, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Christ Himself confirms His “existence” with God and AS God before the world began. In John 16:27-28 we read, “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”

Then we read in John 16:29-30 how the Disciples understood these words, “His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” There was no doubt in the minds of the disciples that Jesus was THE Christ, THE Son of THE living God. Further proof of the eternality of Christ is found in John 17:5 where he prayed, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

Our Saviour God is Eternal, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). To conclude my argument, I will quote both the Psalmist and the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews. In Psalms 45:6-7 we read prophetically of Christ, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” The writer of Hebrews tells us that God “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who (the Son) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; --“ after which the Father said to the Son “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.”